


Bound to You

by Shukara



Category: Free!
Genre: Graphic Description of Corpses, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-25
Updated: 2015-02-25
Packaged: 2018-03-15 05:19:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3435029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shukara/pseuds/Shukara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the middle of the night, Rin dies while laying in bed with Sousuke. Wrought with grief, Sousuke can't let go and gives Rin a not-so-proper burial in their backyard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bound to You

The morning sun was shining into the bedroom window with the quiet chirping of birds outside fading into the room with a slight warmth clinging to the air. The body on the bed was still and there were dark patches on the thick comforter. The stench of urine and feces permeating the entire living space. Sousuke stood at the door, leaning against the frame and taking in the sight of the body that was laying there. Red hair spread out all over pillow and Rin's eyes were shut. It looked to Sousuke as though he were sleeping undisturbed.

He walked across the room and threaded his fingers through Rin's hair, feeling that it was soft to the touch but Rin's skin was as cold as ice. His eyes were sunken in and his lips were tight, rigor mortis had begun to set in but it was early. Sou was still able to move Rin's hand so that he could hold it, feeling the muscles gradually stiffening against his own skin. It sent a violent sear of pain across his own chest and his eyes watered yet again.

The night before, Sousuke had found Rin in the kitchen, laughing and smiling as if nothing were wrong. He hadn't noticed that there was weakness in Rin's hands or that he was drinking something strange. What he did know was that Rin coach had removed him from of the Australian swim team a few days earlier and was having trouble adjusting. Sousuke wiped his face free of tears and lifted the blanket, the musky, wet stench of human waste hitting him in the face.

For a moment, he thought he was going to throw up but he did his best to keep from doing so, this was Rin. Sousuke couldn't just leave him. He swallowed back the acidic taste of stomach acid and made certain not to cough or else he would likely vomit. With his shoulder, it was difficult for him to hold Rin,, but Sousuke muscled through it to get him to their bathroom. There was no way he was going to do this with Rin dirty.

As such, he undressed Rin and began cleaning him up, washing him with careful hands. Sousuke had to be careful to keep his own eyes away from the still visible love bites. "If I would have known," he whispered. "I would have taken you to the hospital instead of making love to you." The ceramic tiles echoed his voice back to him, the tone sounding condescending as it hit his ears. The only saving grace was the fact that the water was running, drowning out much of the sound.

Rin was getting harder for him to move, the redhead's fingers having tightened into a claw-like position. Sousuke stopped the shower and frowned, it was going to be difficult to get clothes on him now. He lumbered toward the bedroom with Rin in his arms again and laid him on the floor. Next to the door, in the hallway, was a large tarp that he had grabbed from the garage, thankful that it had no holes in it. He brought it back into the room and spread it out across the hard wood flooring, laying Rin in the middle and turning away. Of all the things for him to have done, dressing Rin wasn't one of them. He could take off clothes from the redhead but putting them back on has wasn't something he'd had to do. Now, the day after losing Rin, he had to learn how.

Sousuke swallowed and leafed through the different outfits that were in front of him, seeing there were so many that Rin had worn. The other's cologne was wafting toward his face, drowning out the lingering smell of human waste from the bed. He didn't want to get rid of that bed, so Sousuke already knew he would be throwing out the sheets at least. If not that then... he would likely keep them. They smelled like Rin and he'd died on those sheets. Sousuke couldn't throw them away now. He found the tux that Rin had worn the day the had become partners and found himself pausing. The tiger lily that he'd put into the jacket pocket was still sitting there, causing his vision to become blurry.

"I promised I would be there for you. Rin, why didn't you talk to me...? Why didn't you say something?" His voice shook, sounding far smaller in the closet, and he shook those thoughts off the best he could. There was nothing that he could do now but he wanted to know why Rin had taken himself away without so much as a word. He laid the suit out next to Rin's body and found himself sitting on his knees, starting at Rin and frowning. He wanted to be angry, he wanted to hate Rin for doing this to them, they had been planning to adopt a baby! Things were... They'd been going so well even if the two agencies denied them the adoptions, there were still so many different choices. And the Olympic team? Sousuke knew that they could have gone back to Tokyo for something like that.

"Why did you give up, Rin? You wouldn't let me give up, so why did you?! Why? Just... just fucking tell me that much. I don't understand!" Sousuke's shoulders shook with the force of his sobs, they'd snuck up on him and he had to cover his mouth with both hands. He leaned down toward Rin and rested his forehead on his hip, closing his eyes as he let himself cry for a moment. "What's Gou going to think? What about your mother? She had to bury her husband and now her son? ...and Nanase, he was looking forward to swimming with you again. There were so many connections you made, so many lives you touched! Christ, Rin... This isn't fucking fair..."

Sousuke shook his head. He didn't call the coroner's office and he didn't tell anyone else. He never would.

Instead, he worked to get the suit onto Rin before the sun was too high in the sky. He had been up the night before digging in the backyard and Sousuke realized, at that point, he couldn't back out of this. He wouldn't let the others know what had happened to Rin, he would just tell them that Rin left him. It was easier to say that than tell them that Rin was dead. His lies were going to be terrible things and Sousuke knew that, after this, he would have to cover his tracks to make it believable. Right now though, Sousuke pocketed Rin's wedding band and wrapped Rin in the tarp with as careful movements as he could manage. He took a moment to stare at his peaceful face, catching his breath. Rin was, and always would be, the most beautiful being he'd ever laid eyes on.

Picking Rin up again, Sousuke groaned at the power of the flash of pain that went through his arm, centered at his shoulder. All this lifting was going to ruin it further but he didn't care, leaving the house and going to Rin's grave.

It was outside in the garden that Rin had cultivated with all the love he could muster. There was a large collection of tiger lilies, Rin's favorite flower, and several other orchids and plants that Sousuke couldn't name. He was awful when it came to understanding all the nuances of gardening. Rin had tried teaching him once but Sousuke never picked it up.

Rin had laughed at him for it. He'd teased him relentlessly, not that Sousuke minded, and he wished Rin would wake up and tell him this was all a good prank, a joke. When the body didn't move, Sousuke whined, a low sound, and put Rin into the hole he'd dug up. There were no words coming to him, nothing magical or romantic that he could say, nothing came to him. He hated himself for that but grabbed the shovel nearby and began dropping the dirt over Rin's body. It was long, gruesome hours of work and Sousuke covered the area with sod afterward, spreading a few cut tiger lilies on top.

Panting and exhausted, Sousuke sat at the table on their porch and listened to the world around him. The birds were still chirping. There were kids playing and screaming down the road. A mother was talking on the phone a few yards down on the phone. The freeway was alive with the sound of roaring engines and honking horns. Nothing in their town had paused to think of the beautiful, fiery redhead that Sousuke just had to put to rest. His chin quivered as his eyes watered yet again. He wasn't going to allow Rin to be cremated and separated into urns, he couldn't handle the thought of it not matter how normal it was at home.

The sound of the answering machine had his ears perking up and, when he listened in, his stomach filled with dread.

"Hey! Rin, Sousuke! It's Gou. I was wondering if I could head over sometime next month to see you guys! I have a lot of things I just have to tell you. So just call me back whenever you get this or text me, it's totally okay. I love you brothers, bye!" In the background, Sousuke could hear Seijuro laughing about something. It was the gentle but huge happiness in Gou's voice that made his heart ache. Sousuke couldn't bring himself to even begin thinking of calling her back. Instead, he walked up to their bedroom and stripped the bed free of the soiled sheets and put them in the washer. He returned upstairs to he throw himself on the bed and pressed his face against Rin's pillow.

It still smelled like Rin.


End file.
